Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 27, Oct 15

We left Batote around five in the morning and drove on for the rest of the day to reach Delhi by late evening. After the winding roads of the high Himalayas, the drive through the plains was extremely quiet and uneventful. In fact, that is what makes it dangerous. The reflexes are dulled and there is a tendency to doze off due to boredom. We made sure we stayed awake and after dinner near Karnal, we hit home to end an eventful expedition. We could not complete what we had set out to do and that was sad. But from a personal standpoint, I had made my pilgrimage to Ladakh and fulfilled a long cherished dream of driving down the Chushul road. That was a beautiful drive and I will remember it for a very long time.

I do not know why but something tells me that my journey into Ladakh is over and I may not be back again. I hope that is not the case. I love the region and would like to go back there as often as I can. Maybe not for extreme events, probably just as a regular tourist. I hope I get back within the folds of the mountains of Ladakh soon. I am yet to see Zanskar. I want to go to the Karakoram Pass. I want to spend a winter in Leh. There is so much to do. Till then … Julay!

Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 26, Oct 14

The honking of the vehicles woke us up. The sun was not yet out, it was dark all around, but the vehicles were moving. Wiping the sleep from our eyes, we drove on towards Zoji La and the checkpost, the last one on the road. Soon enough we came down from the mountains into the Sonamarg valley. The drive continued to be spectacular, but what was immediately apparent after hitting the valley was the sheer number of security personnel on the road. Every few yards there were armed soldiers, reminding everyone of the tense situation that persists in the region.

We bypassed Srinagar and sat down for brunch just before the Jawahar tunnel, at Qazi Gund. Soon, we would be in Jammu and by nightfall expected to be in Delhi. Far cry as it turned out. After crossing the tunnel we hit the most horribly humungous traffic jam ever. The next 15 kilometres took us almost ten hours. And when we had been through it, we could not fathom the reason for the jam. It just was. By nightfall I had expected to be close to Delhi, and here we were not even close to Jammu. The last few hours had been tiring, and we decided to hunker in for the night. We found a Guest House near Batote, short of Patnitop, and got ourselves a couple of rooms and promptly went to sleep.

A horribly tiring day.

Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 25, Oct 13

The couple of hours of shut eye turned out to be four hours. That is four hours lost out of the designated 24 for the FIVE PASSES effort. But it was worth it. There is no point in being foolish and pushing the body beyond what it can take. The extra two hours sleep meant that we would be fresh for the rest of the day and beyond.

Engine revved, we started the climb to Tanglang La. The snow was relentless. And the ice on the road made driving on it precarious and dangerous. We were not doing too well on time, but we were on the move. Soon enough, we were at the world’s second highest motorable road, Tanglang La. And the temperature was easily twenty below zero. I had to step out to take some pictures and give some sound bytes for the camera, and I froze. Despite wearing pretty decent boots, I could not feel my toes. I had good gloves on and my fingers were numb. I was wearing two fleece balaclavas and it was as if my nose and ears had fallen off. Less than ten minutes later, it was inside the relative comfort of the vehicle. But the inside of the windscreen was caked with frost which had to be physically scraped out … with bare hands. That was not a happy experience either, but it had to be done if we were to see where we were going. And we had better see where we were going, particular because we were going a down a winding road, caked with ice, at over 17,000 feet in altitude.

Soon enough, driving gingerly, we came down below the snow line, just as the sun became visible above the distant mountains. We crossed Leh just as the town was waking up and we sped towards Khardung La. Traffic was low given that it was early morning and we did fairly decent time. The South Pullu check post came soon enough and we found ourselves in a grid lock. Lots of Army trucks were lined up as were a few civilian trucks and some local taxis. Not knowing why the jam, Sushil went out to investigate and came back a few minutes later with bad news … no one without snow chains on the tyres were being allowed further. There was just too much snow and ice on the road and it was too dangerous. We found the Army truckers busy fixing chains on their vehicles. We had none!

Nevertheless, after a while we found some vehicles moving forward and we just followed them. A couple of kilometres up, ooops. The vehicle started skidding badly, without any traction whatsoever. We somehow parked next to the road and watched as some hapless trucks and taxis tried to negotiate their way up. They were having a rough time. The cliff was right next to the road and the way some of the vehicles were skidding, it is a marvel that we did not see a couple of them go over the cliff. I tried walking on the track and nearly slipped and fell a few times. It was packed ice and I could not even walk, let alone drive on this.

That was that. After having driven more than 460 kilometres, we were just 10 kilometres short of Khardung La and a new record, when I had to take a call … the record or my life? I chose the latter. The mountain will still be there next year, but I was not prepared to risk my life and the life of the crew on roads like these. The expedition was on abort. Just 10 kilometres to go and we had to turn back. I stood quietly next to the road, the tears freezing on my cheeks. Not again, I kept telling myself. A couple of years ago, on The Cliff Riders expedition, the weather had forced us to abandon the effort, even before we had started. At least this time we had made the effort, and just 10 kilometres short, we had to abort it.

And the saddest part of it is that alongside aborting the FIVE PASSES effort, the other efforts too had to be aborted since they were in continuation of the first one. I missed one meant that I had missed all the chances. I could not face myself and the tragedy that fate was playing out in my life. But that is life and in extreme sports, we need to accept these tragedies with the chin held high.

I could still try and make the attempt at the maximum passes in 24 hours, but we had lost a fair bit of time at South Pullu. And we would not have the time to drive down the Tso Moriri axis, which meant that at least three more passes had to be bypassed. We would only have Tanglang La, Nakeela, Lachulung La and Kang La. In addition to Chang La and Wari La. Six passes in 24 hours was not writing home about. I know if the weather was right, we could have attempted at least twelve. So there went the MAXIMUM PASSES IN A DAY.

And with the weather the way it was, there was no way I was heading to Manali and risk being stranded somewhere en route. On the way up, we had witnessed abandoned settlements. After a fortnight the rest would also have packed tents and left. I did not relish the thought of being stranded on this route. It is a bad place to get into a survival situation. So Srinagar it was. And that is where we headed from Leh and a bite to eat. With misty eyes (and I thought the windscreen was dirty), we drove on towards Srinagar and Delhi.

Had it not been for the status of the expedition, this drive could really have been enjoyed for its spectacular beauty. It is nowhere near as tough and rugged as the one from Manali to Leh, the landscape is gorgeous, villages dot the route and the drive is exquisite. But the expedition kept playing out in my mind and the mist (on the windscreen!) refused to clear up.

After a good dinner at Kargil, we headed towards Drass and soon it was dark. The roads would open to traffic at five in the morning. We just curled up once again in the vehicle and waited for dawn. Incidentally, Drass is also the place with a recorded temperature of -65 degree Celsius, making it the coldest place in the world after Siberia. The night was likely to be cold. Nevertheless, after a couple of cups of tea, we drifted softly into slumberland.

Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 24, Oct 12

The local top brass of the Indian Army was going through a change and the old Commander was handing over to the new Commander. And both of them, along with a horde of other officers and men were headed up to Marsimik La, from where our effort was due to start. Hmmm, that kind of put a spanner in the works as far as our timing was concerned. I decided to delay the departure from Tangtse by a couple of hours so that by the time we reached Marsimik La, the Army contingent would have moved to their next port of call … or rather pass of call. We had a leisurely breakfast and by the time we left Tangtse it was around nine. I knew we would spend some time at the gorgeous Pangong Tso lake and then move on to Marsimik La, so we were all right in terms of unnecessary interaction with the Army boys doing their job.

Pangong Tso was as gorgeous as ever. It was very cloudy, what with the weather turning for the worse, and the changing colours of the lake were not as spectacular as I had expected. But it was gorgeous nevertheless. Fortunately, there is a bridge now over Pagal Nallah, which meant that we would not have to make a mad dash to cross the Nallah in spate. Lots of pictures later, we headed on to Marsimik La, which, wonder of wonders, had been freshly laid with a spanking tarmac. It was a far cry from what I remembered from a decade ago and it was sheer pleasure driving down this road. The road is still being constructed and once done, I suspect Marsimik La will become the world’s highest motorable road.

We reached our start point and commenced on the expedition at a little after two in the afternoon. This was a good time to start and now we could end the FIVE PASSES effort at Khardung La, the world’s highest motorable road. We sped on, down from Marsimik La and on towards Chang La. For a large part the weather did us a favour, but as we started climbing towards Chang La, it started getting worse. We crossed 15,000 feet and the snow line. The road was layered with ice and the mountains were packed with snow. The sun was barely visible and the wind picked up making things very cold. Chang La itself had a lot of overnight snow, something we had seen the start of last night on our way to Tangtse. A brief stop over at Chang La, a tribute to Chang La Baba at the temple and off we went for the next pass – Wari La. Again, as we went below the snow line, things were better, but as we started climbing again, the snow started. By this time it was pitch dark and there was absolutely no traffic on the road. And even in the best of times, this road has virtually no traffic. Wari La is a relatively unknown pass from a tourist’s point of view, who head on towards Chang La and Pangong Tso, but the road beyond Wari La is a military road leading up to the Nubra Valley, and closed to civilians. And it was late in the day and it was snowing. No traffic at all. But we did get to see a lot of rabbits on the road. Confused by the headlights, they just kept running in front of the vehicle, least realising that escape was down the hill.

It was almost midnight by the time we reached Karu and we needed to head towards Tanglang La. The sky was dark and no stars were visible over the mountains around Tanglang La. It would be cold and if it was windy, then life would become very uncomfortable. And Tanglang La can be very windy and cold.

We were also quite tired and decided to catch some shut eye for a couple of hours. We parked the vehicle at the small of Lato, just before the climb to Tanglang La started and curled up uncomfortably to rest and let the body recuperate. It was lower down in altitude, so it was not so cold, at least inside the vehicle. And soon, we worked up a cacophony of sounds, emanating from deep down our throats, escaping in different pitches through our nostrils. But no one noticed and we were sleeping like babies. 

Travel Trendz Trilogy Update: Day 23, Oct 11

I could have killed Sushil in the morning. I had barely shut my eyes when he was in my room waking me up. I could bet that I had not been asleep for more than 15 minutes or so, but he promised me that it was five in the morning and today was ATTEMPT DAY! Hmmm, that perked me up and woke me up pronto. A few minutes trying to touch the freezing water that was flowing through the tap and we loaded up, ready to hit the road. Which we did and I am very proud to say, did before the sun was up.

The drive up to Khardung La was fantastic. No vehicles to worry about at this time of the day. The sun started casting its golden glow on the distant peaks while the valley was still in darkness. The windows in the vehicle were rolled up and a couple of times I rolled it down to make for better photography, froze to the bones. It was cold outside. About an hour later, after having checked in at South Pullu Police Check Post, we were standing at Khardung La, the world’s highest motorable road. Soon the Trilogy would be on its way. A little after eight in the morning we flagged off. There was not a sould to flag us off and we did the honours ourselves after having entered the Log Book and reset the GPS to ZERO.

The ride down was as good as the ride up. Beautiful vistas of the rising sun casting its hue on the mountains, the valley waking up from its slumber, the rays of the sun painting a lovely canvas on the rising dust of the road. Leh came and went and I was on my way to Karu to take the detour to Wari La and Chang La. Soon enough we were at Sakti or Serthi as it is called now, and we took the detour to Wari La. It was early morning and the sun was out and with the rolled windows, it was very toasty and comfortable. We pressed on, doing what I thought was fairly good time.

After about ten odd kilometres I found the power of the engine die down almost entirely. A look at the gauge showed that the temperature was way too high. I decided to give it a break after the next bend. Bad idea. A few hundred yards or less later, everything under the bonnet blew up, high into the sky. Well, not as dramatic as that, but the hose pipe burst and six to seven litres of engine coolant lay across a few dozen yards of the road. Oooops, that kind of put a spanner in the works as far as the Trilogy was concerned.

Engine heating had been a perennial problem with the Gypuzu and no one could quite figure out why. The head gasket was fine, the water body had just been replaced, the radiator had been cleaned to a sparkle ... yet. Whenever the vehicle crossed 12,000 odd feet, it seemed to realise that it was being called upon to do what it was not prepared for. It would just die on me, the engine would heat up, and often coolant would spill on to the road, boiling beyond measure.

I could not stop every few kilometres to top up the radiator with either coolant or water, not on attempt day at least. I would have to abort the effort today. We allowed the engine to cool down, munched a couple of packed sandwiches, filled the radiator with water and started the long and painful journey back to Leh.

But it was not the end of the day just yet. We headed straight to the workshop to see if the Gypuzu could be salvaged and repaired for a second attempt tomorrow. No go. The mechanic could not fathom what was wrong and why the engine was heating up so much, so quickly and so radically. The water body had been replaced, the head gasket was fine, there was no other leakage anywhere, there was no reason why it should heat up so. Overheating of the engine had been a problem from the start. Sundry hose pipes bursting, etc, had happened in Delhi and in Hyderabad. I had thought it was niggles which needed to be ... and were ... sorted out. But the problem pursued. Every time a little bit extra was asked of the engine, it would give up. Sad, because everything else was working just fine. The power was awesome, I did not have to use the 4WD at all, climbing steep inclines, particularly at hairpin bends, was a breeze. Yet still ...

Anyway, I took a decision to abandon the attempt on the Gypuzu and do it on the support vehicle instead. It was a powerful vehicle and would do what it was called upon to do. The sponsor stickers were promptly put on the vehicle ... and the plan had to be changed. We would start from Marsimik La tomorrow instead of from Khardung La as we had done today. Which also meant that we would have to make a four to five hour journey into Tangtse to stay the night there. Which also meant that we would have to cross Chang La again, most probably at night. Chang La is a beautiful pass, though a a tricky one. The roads are bad and stretches are avalanche prone. It had started to snow and the going would be tricky. Anyway what had to be done, had to be done.

Stickering done and the gear and equipment shifted on to what was now the attempt vehicle, we started from Leh just as the sun started setting over the snow clad mountains. Not that we could see any snow clad mountains because they were all enveloped in clouds. It was snowing up at the top and the weather was closing in mighty fast. I knew I had just a few hours window left to make the attempt and get out of Ladakh or risk being stranded here for the winter!

Late in the evening, through a light snowfall, we reached Tangtse and checked into my father’s regiment for the night. Tomorrow would be my last attempt this year for the records. With that thought I drifted off to sleep curled up in a cold room but inside a very comfortable down quilt. Adios.